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2 Dec 2009 : Column 762W—continued
Departmental Meetings
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which (a) individuals other than ministerial colleagues and officials of his Department and (b) organisations he met in an official capacity in the week commencing 9 November 2009. [301161]
Chris Mole: In its response to a Report by the Public Administration Select Committee "Lobbying: Access and influence in Whitehall", the Government agreed to publish online, on a quarterly basis, information about ministerial meetings with outside interest groups. Information for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 will be published by Departments as soon as the information is ready.
Departmental Official Cars
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of providing official cars for the use of (a) Ministers and (b) officials in the last 12 months. [301182]
Paul Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement I made on 16 July 2009, Official Report, columns 79-80WS about the contracted cost of ministerial cars in 2008-09. The cost of providing official cars for senior officials for the same period is as follows:
| Department | 2008-09 charge (£) |
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what proportion of jobs advertised by his Department in the last 12 months were online only applications; and what provision his Department makes for those wishing to apply for jobs in his Department who do not have access to the internet. [301534]
Chris Mole: One of the Agencies within the Department for Transport uses online only job applications in its external recruitment processes. 27 per cent. of the jobs advertised externally by the Department in the last 12 months were online only applications.
The Department includes telephone contact details in job adverts and application packs can be issued in alternative formats for anyone who does not have access to the internet. Applicants who may have difficulty in applying for jobs online can also be helped to identify where they can access the internet e.g. libraries or internet cafes. Alternatively they can provide paper applications on request.
Electric Vehicles
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent on electric car charging points in the last five years. [302857]
Mr. Khan: On 19 November 2009 the Secretary of State for Transport launched the Plugged in Places scheme which is making available up to £30 million to support a small number of lead cities and regions in rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Bids for this funding are due to be received next year.
In addition, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Grant Programme (AFIGP) launched in 2005 has to date delivered 82 charging points with Government support totalling £172,347. On 19 November 2009, the Department for Transport announced the next tranche of funding through this programme and that a further 72 charge points are due for completion by spring 2010 with Government support of £228,500.
London Airports
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to the answer of 9 November 2009, Official Report, column 49W, if he will publish the submission to the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark) setting out (a) the (i) reasons and (ii) justifications for not providing the information requested in question 298409 and (b) the estimated cost of providing the information requested, as required in accordance with section 7.28 of the Cabinet Office's Guide to Parliamentary Work. [302859]
Paul Clark:
The request in question 298409 was about representations received from hon. and right hon. Members of each party in favour of (a) a third runway at Heathrow airport, (b) a second runway at Gatwick airport, (c) further expansion of Stansted airport and (d) a new airport in the Thames estuary. No time period was specified. As my 9 November answer explained, no such records are held centrally. To seek to obtain the information would therefore require an exhaustive
search of both electronic and paper records across the Department for Transport at least as far back as 2002 when options for airport development were consulted upon. Such an exercise would well exceed the £750 threshold in Cabinet Office guidance for written questions.
Lorries
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of miles heavy goods vehicles over 12 tonnes registered in (a) the UK and (b) overseas travelled on roads in the UK in each year since 1997. [302813]
Paul Clark: The table shows the estimated distance travelled in the UK by UK-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) weighing over 12 tonnes. Figures for foreign-registered HGVs are not available.
| Billion miles travelled | |
| Note: Data for 2004 onwards are not fully comparable with earlier years Source: DFT, Continuing Survey of Road Goods Transport | |
Lorries: Accidents
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many accidents involving (a) UK-registered and (b) non-UK registered heavy goods vehicles were recorded on UK roads in each of the last 10 years. [302814]
Paul Clark: Data concerning whether vehicles involved in personal injury road accidents are foreign registered have only been collected from 2005. The table shows the number of personal injury road accidents since 2005 involving known foreign registered HGVs and HGVs recorded as not foreign registered:
| Reported personal injury accidents involving heavy goods vehicles: GB 2005-08 | |||
| Accidents involving foreign registered HGVs | Accidents involving HGVs not registered as foreign( 1) | All HGV accidents( 2) | |
| (1 )Includes some cases where at the time of reporting it was not known whether an HGV was foreign registered. (2) Includes cases where it is not recorded whether HGV is foreign registered. Accidents can include both foreign registered HGVs and HGVs not registered as foreign so the total may be smaller than the sum of other two figures. | |||
M1: Speed Limits
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans he has to implement a temporary speed limit reduction on (a) the M1 motorway between junctions 30 and 31 and (b) on the M18 motorway between junction 1 and the junction with the M1 motorway; and if he will make a statement. [303438]
Chris Mole: The information is as follows:
(a) The M1 junction 30-31 scheme is to strengthen the hardshoulders of both northbound and southbound carriageways. The work started 30 November and is scheduled for completion in early January 2010. The work is being undertaken with overnight hardshoulder and Lane 1 closures without the need for speed reduction.
(b) There are no schemes planned between junction 1 of the M18 and junction 32 of the M1. However, the Highways Agency will be carrying out hardshoulder strengthening works on the northbound and southbound carriageways of the M1 between junction 32 and junction 33. This work is programmed to commence in February 2010 for three weeks and will be undertaken with overnight hardshoulder and Lane 1 closures without the need for speed reduction.
Manchester Airport: Railways
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information his Department holds on the passenger data taken into account in determining the frequency of direct rail services to and from Manchester Airport. [302043]
Chris Mole [holding answer 26 November 2009]: For English rail franchises the Department for Transport defines a minimum train service, which is reviewed in the light of present and forecast demand when franchises are replaced.
In accordance with the requirements of their franchise agreements, train operating companies collect passenger counts data in order to assess demand and to monitor the rail services serving Manchester airport station. These data are commercially confidential and are owned by the respective train operating companies. The Department for Transport currently holds only partial passenger counts information for rail services serving Manchester airport station.
Motorways: Noise
Chris Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what information his Department has compiled on the difference measured in decibels between the typical noise created by a concrete motorway surface and a low-noise tarmac surface. [302758]
Chris Mole [holding answer 30 November 2009]: Typical noise levels created from either in-service concrete or low-noise surfaces cannot be readily defined. Noise levels created by individual surfaces, even for the same surfacing material type, can vary widely as they are influenced by factors such as age of the surface and its texture depth wear.
Whenever major maintenance is carried out on the strategic road network in England, a low noise surfacing is specified. The Highways Agency specification requires low noise surfacing materials to be at least 2.5dB(A) quieter than traditional hot rolled asphalt surfaces.
Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance
Chris Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate the Highways Agency has made of the cost per mile of resurfacing concrete motorways with low noise tarmac surfaces. [302366]
Chris Mole [holding answer 30 November 2009]: The estimated cost per mile of resurfacing each lane of concrete pavement on a motorway using quieter surfacing materials ranges between £200,000 and £1,900,000 at today's prices. Accurate cost estimates can only be obtained once a scheme's detailed design has been undertaken, as this will depend on the type of treatment required and associated site specific requirements. The higher costs would only be incurred where roads constructed to old design standards (i.e. before 1987) were resurfaced, so these are becoming increasingly rare.
Norwich-London Railway Line
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average age of rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line was during (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) to date in 2009. [302203]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested in relation to the average age of rolling stock used on the Norwich to London railway line.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport on how many occasions trains between Norwich and London Liverpool Street were more than (a) 15 minutes, (b) 30 minutes and (c) one hour late in arriving at their final destination in (i) 2007, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2009 to date. [302433]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold information on train delays for the Norwich and London Liverpool Street route. Network Rail is responsible for train running data for the rail industry. The hon. Member may wish to contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for such information:
Iain Coucher
Chief Executive
Network Rail
Kings Place
90 York Way
London, N1 9AG.
Ports: Milford Haven
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects to lay before the House a Harbour Revision Order relating to the Port of Milford Haven. [303311]
Paul Clark:
In common with other major trust ports the Milford Haven port authority have been asked to report to the Government by April 2010 on their review of their corporate structure. In these circumstances it
would be premature to determine the earlier Harbour Revision Order designed to alter the constitution of the Authority.
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